Competition news

REACTIONS TO THE DRAW AT THE RIAZOR

02 Sep 2014Depor’s coach was content with the reaction of his team and also warned that Insua shouldn’t have played the game. He and the players also explained why Cuenca ended taking the penalty that meant the final equalizer.

Coach Víctor Fernández was satisfied with the final result, “Today it was very important not to lose. We must end the construction of the team and improve the physical aspect. I’m proud of the attitude of the team as they reacted at the end. I don’t know where they found the strength. They showed their commitment, character and competitive attitude, and for this reason I’m content. I insist: this is a very important point to leave the message that we cannot lose games on here.”

"It was an intense game. There were alternatives. We reacted within the final fifteen minutes. If Toché would have scored the 2-0 then we surely would have won the match, but we didn’t know how to seize the opportunity and they came back in the score. It was important to add.” He commented.

The Aragonian coach was also explaining the three changes, “The three players that entered brought fresh air. The entry of Álex brought strength and allowed Haris [Medunjanin] to create danger coming from behind. Then Iván [Cavaleiro] began to put pressure and to run, and the change of Luisinho was to refresh the squad and to give options to Luis Fariña at the middle.”

Víctor complained of the lack of players at defense, this since he confessed that Insua wasn’t fully fit to play, "Insua shouldn't have played the game, but we are missing people. We don't have more centre-backs. There are players that need to improve their fitness and they will improve. We need time. He [Insua] has spent two weeks in which he was at the limit, but don’t have a specific centre-back to replace him. Álex Bergantiños is a player that we specifically have for midfield. We knew that Manucho was going to play, so we needed Pablo Insua. We need to save the situation with the elements that we have.”

Finally, Fernandez explained that Medunjanin was going to take the penalty, but that in the end the job was for Cuenca, “We were worried for the physical state of Cuenca; he was dragging a quadriceps problems, however the player wanted to strike the ball, so I was telling Laure to check if the player was fit enough to take the shot. Then Haris [Medunjanin] came and he told me that the player was convinced and that we should allow him to take the penalty. The true is that he took it as if nothing was at stake. It was a wonderful shot.”

Juan Dominguez was remembering that it’s the second time that Depor lose an advantage in the scoresheet, “We reacted after been behind in the scoresheet, but once again the rival achieved a comeback and we must be more careful and correct it. It isn’t the same to add a point to end empty-handed, but our goal is the three points and today we were close to achieve it, because it isn’t easy to claim the lead before a rival like Rayo.”

The Galician midfielder is also confident that Depor will improve taking advantage of the international break, “The break will be good to us, positive, because it will bring more days in this process of adaptation and construction of a squad that isn’t 100% ready.”

Haris Medunjanin was among the best players in the game; he said that the goal missed by Toché in the first part was key, “Rayo is a good team; in the first half the ball didn’t enter in the action of Toché; the game could have been for any of both teams and in the end we clinched the draw. We must have confidence in the team, but need to have a bigger ball possession, because I believe that we know how to play football.”

The Bosnian midfielder also explained that he was going to take the penalty, but that in the end the role was for Cuenca, "Cuenca was confident enough and I didn't want to fight with him at the moment of taking the penalty. I see that we are in a team and the important thing is to score the goals.”

Isaac Cuenca himself explained the situation, "I had confidence in myself. I decided to take the penalty. The other day I was training the penalties during the training sessions and said to myself: I will going to take it in the game. I had a muscle problem and the coach asked me if I was feeling fine.”

About the situation with the team, the Catalan winger commented that he has confidence that Depor are going to improve, “The team has potential, but we aren’t living our best moment. We will have better moments throughout the season. I‘m convinced that we are going to end better of how we started.”

José Rodriguez was saying that the draw was fair, “I believe the point is good. The game was lost and I believe that the team showed its strength within the final fifteen minutes. I believe the point was good, because the game was already lost at that moment. The game was 50-50. Rayo had their chances and also us, so the draw was fair.”

At Rayo Vallecano, Paco Jémez was disappointed after dropping two points at the last minute, “In a competition so long like this one you have to see of everything. It’s frustrating to see two points flying away with the game finished and is part of the game; you have to learn from mistakes to not see this happening again. The errors are part of the game.”

“The game should had another result and I won’t change a player just because he missed a pass. The games are like this and we cannot argue. If we would have been more effective, then the result would have been different, but despite the frustration and the pain, we should use this to keep growing.” He added.